Fairy tales are something that most of us grew up hearing as children, the details may change across time and cultures but even though the details may change fairy tales are an almost intrinsic part of our childhoods. It speaks volumes that though some of the tales may be hundreds of years old they still continue to inspire us to this day.Fairy tales have in the past provided inspiration to Groove to make dolls based on various beloved characters from our childhood such as the Starry Night Cinderella series that was released back in 2013 or last year when we saw the release of Pullip Gretel and Isul Hansel. Grimm’s “The Frog Prince” is the latest fairy tale to provide inspiration to Groove, Isul Caros plays the titular Frog Prince while Dana plays the princess who is responsible for transforming the frog back into a prince whether it be my kiss as in most modern retellings of the tale……or by throwing him against the wall in disgust as in the original tale.
Isul Caros and Dal Dana were released in late February of this year, they have a MSRP of 18000 yen each. Dal Dana has already been featured here and now it is time to focus on the Frog Prince himself, Isul Caros!Because you pick up a ball of the money….Let me sleep together in a bed….Situation Like So.

Isul Caros in the box. When Isul Caros was first announced I remember showing my husband some of the promotional photos and his being very amused by Isul Caros who he nicknamed “frog boy”, then when Isul Caros and Dal Dana arrived him excitedly announcing that frog boy and the princess had arrived. Unfortunately I am now so used to mentally calling Isul Caros frog boy that I fear that he will forever be doomed with that moniker.

First impression of Isul Caros in the box, wow he is a very pretty Isul with a very bright and colorful outfit. Oh my goodness the frog hood and gloves are delightfully absurd! Much like Dal Dana, Isul Caros’ stock is a lot more detailed than I was led to believe from the promotional photos and the quality looks nice.

How is the quality of Isul Caros’ wig? The pale blond color is fantastic, the quality of the wig fiber is nice though I feel like the wig could be a little bit thicker. Overall I am very pleased with this wig.Isul Caros looks so fresh faced and innocent, I really love his face up! His face up is not overly embellished or dramatic, he has only a hint of blushing. His eyebrows are a bit thicker than we normally see on Isul, they remind me a bit of Isul Cedric’s. His eyebrows give him a little bit of a dreamy expression. His eyeliner is done up black and dark brown with a little bit of dark shadowing under the eyes, it stands out in stark contrast to his pale skin and the rest of his face up which is quite muted in color. His eyechips are very dark, I kind of wish he had brighter eyechips in green or blue but perhaps that would have been too much color as his face up has a subdued color scheme with the exception of the eye makeup. He has heart shaped lips in a lovely shade of pale pink.Isul Caros’ stock outfit consists of an oversized frog hood and gloves, mantle, blouse with frill cuff, jacket, pants, tights and shoes. His stock is nicely detailed, I particularly love the lace detailing on the blouse and the ribbon detailing on the jacket/pants. I love the contrast of patterns and colors used in his stock outfit, the fabric choices are bold they do not match perfectly but they also do not clash the orange, blue and green manage to complement each other. I love that Groove even thought to line the frog hood in an eye-catching fabric even though we were not really intended to see it. I love that Isul Caros has an almost theatrical air to him, I could definitely see someone wearing this up on stage as a costume at a primary school’s theater production of the Frog Prince. Theatrical costumes (and makeup for that matter) often have exaggerated details so that they can be better seen by the audience who may not otherwise be able to make out the subtle details if they are not lucky enough to sit in the first few rows of the theater. Isul Caros’ hood and gloves definitely make me think of the liberties that are taken to dramatically convey the transformation of the prince into a frog in the theater, the fact they are also quite whimsical so it makes me think of a primary school production.I really love how exaggerated the frog hood and gloves are they add a really whimsical touch to Isul Caros. The frog gloves in particular are easily one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen but they are really quite endearing! I love the fabric that Groove selected for the hands and hood, the color is absolutely fantastic and I love the textured feel to it.Isul Caros somehow manages to look quite regal despite his farcical hood and gloves.Even though it has been a few months now since Isul Caros has been released, I still have not seen all that many owner photos of him other than my own. I have to admit that I am a little disappointed by the lack of owner photos, it seems as though Isul Caros has become an overlooked gem which is a pity as he is a really great release!Isul Caros trying to make friends with his new froggy brethren! On a sidenote, I know I also touched on this during Dal Dana’s review but it can be surprisingly difficult to find toy frogs. I had to go to several different stores to find some frog toys that would work. I’m not sure if frog toys were just out of season (though one would think frog toys would be more prevalent in spring), they are always that hard to find or if frogs are just not popular at the moment but if you are looking for them yourself save yourself the headache and check the impulse section by the registers at Toys R Us before running all around town like I did. It was to the point where I was seriously contemplating how cooperative one of the frogs that are seemingly always hopping around my yard would be for photos, thankfully it did not come to that (I kid, though my daughter does seem to enjoy endlessly chasing after them) !
Isul Caros looking slightly less formal without his mantle.Even without the frog items and the mantle, Isul Caros still looks quite fanciful and dapper. He would almost look at home with the Rococo set that was released several years ago (Pullip Marianne, Dal Charlotte and Taeyang Alberic) like this.The blouse is something that is supposed to be mostly hidden by the jacket despite that it is nicely detailed with lace. I absolutely love the lace extending past the hemline on his shirt, I’m not quite sure if that would qualify as a shirt tail or not as it is not designed to be tucked in.Isul Caros is definitely one of the most beautiful Isul, somehow he just strikes me as having one the more feminine face ups when compared to other Isuls.Additional photos of Isul Caros can be seen on my flickr. If you haven’t already had the opportunity to do so please checkout my post highlighting Isul Caros’ counterpart Dal Dana. While I have not yet decided which will be the next doll highlighted here (currently deciding between Pullip Katrina, Taeyang ReonHARDT and Pullip Girl with a Pearl Earring), I do promise that my next post will be very soon.